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Nov 21, 2010

It's funny how things that were almost monumentally important before may not seem quite so now. It's the curse of the progression of time in our linear existence, I suppose. We move on to bigger and better things and thus we easily forget the past.

Once upon a time, gay characters on prime time television was a rarity outside the realms of comic relief. Let's face it - it just wasn't quite as socially acceptable to have them "prancing around" on national television in those years. But now it's become a lot more accepted, although it's been a while since we've had gay characters in lead roles within a show outside of things they broadcast on Logo.

It's sort of strange to think that there's an entire generation of new young gay men and women who have yet to see this series. Then again, it's not like it was ever broadcast on television locally - it was always something you heard about from friends and had to acquire digital copies for yourself. I guess that may not be a bad thing - it sort of adds to the mythos around the show and why it's important to so many people.

And hopefully these reviews will help people become aware of what's out there as well.

The second season certainly tried to push the character development to new levels and with it the on-going storylines. Of course, many felt the odd relationship between Brian (Gale Harold) and Justin (Randy Harrison) was a focal point of the series and it was certainly one of the items that were further explored. Of course trying to define a relationship where Brian doesn't want to be confined by traditional heterosexual definitions of relationships is always tricky.

The season also featured weird new interactions like Michael (Hal Sparks) finding common ground with Justin by working on the gay comic book character Rage together. Of course the fact that a lot about Rage is based on their mutual feelings towards Brian is probably not healthy, but that's besides the point. Plus we get the introduction of the character of Ethan (Fabrizio), a music student from FIFA who becomes Justin's new love interest given they share artistic sensibilities. Although quite frankly it just leads to him being more of a slut, just like Brian, so I guess that works.

Image via WikipediaSeason 2 also prominently featured Ben (Robert Gant) as Michael's new boyfriend. He happens to be HIV positive and naturally this becomes a major talking point for the show and a point of contention for Michael's mother, Debbie (Sharon Gless) as well. Plus Debbie in turn starts to see the policeman Carl (Peter MacNeill), who turns out to be highly homophobic until Debbie tries to change his thinking.

The lastly you had the plot lines for Ted (Scott Lowell) and Emmett (Peter Paige) where Ted ends up starting a pornography website where Emmett becomes his star attraction. This is a relationship that everyone silently wants to go somewhere but at the same time you kind of feel that they can only really be just friends.

Overall, I liked how the season went and appreciate Michael finally bagging a guy. I will never fully appreciate the dysfunctional relationship between Brian and Justin, but hey that's me. And the whole Rage story arc is a pretty significant one that goes on for some time, and that's not a bad thing at all.

Queer as Folk (US) Season 2 was a great exploration of a show and the writers being able to demonstrate greater range for the characters while exploring more gay issues. It gets 4 possible porn star names for Emmett out of a possible 5.